Author: Rob MacKinnon

If Merav Richter knew then what she knows today, she would not have continued living in the matrimonial home with her estranged husband throughout their 18-month transition from separation to divorce. Ms. Richter had agonized over the repercussions for the couple’s three children and her own financial future before she told her husband of 23…

“How do I get through the Hell of separation and divorce without getting completely burned or burning down my family?” To guide you out of separation Hell, get a Family Mediator through family mediation. If you are now separating leading to divorce let’s not mince words. Separation is Hell. It is a cruelly painful time…

A further unlikely source of my skill development as a mediator comes from the fact that I have directed about two dozen theatre productions. You may be thinking that telling people what to do would be more the job of an arbitrator or a judge and I would agree with you. The point is that…

I can also trace my present abilities as a mediator to my earlier professions. I was once a mariner. As a teenager my summer job was a deck hand on oil tankers sailing the Great Lakes and then voyaging up to the Eastern Arctic; Ungava Bay and Hudson’s Bay. After University I sailed from Japan…

Part 1: I became a certified family mediator after enjoying several careers, one of them being a long term as an educator; a privileged position I found rewarding and enlivening. The idea of having fun while helping young people develop communication skills, confidence and self esteem made for a great career; one that required all…

The Snapping Of a Wire  The summer I turned 15 my first job was as deck hand on the Shell oil tanker Arctic Trader out of Montreal. (Please don’t ask how I got that position, it is a long story) I was mostly overwhelmed by my surroundings. Everything was steel or rusty steel or grease.…

  My wife and I are tied together. Over thirty years we have woven a rope with strands of love, humour, children and most of all respect. The weaving process has at times been painful but we have somehow managed to avoid our cord unravelling. At times when it seemed like it was fraying we…

Spring makes us aware of the positive changes in our environment. Spring arrives with new hope for the future. Spring gives us energy to work and make positive changes in our own lives. In the face of violent behavior, our communities can make positive changes by first raising awareness of the issue which can then…

For those of you curious about the picture of the ship above , that is the M.V. Miscaroo (The Owl). In 1983 I was part of the original crew of this icebreaking, anchor handling tug. I joined her as she launched from Vancouver Shipyards, sailed across the Gulf of Alaska, continued around the top of…